Abrupt Weaning, what do I do now?

08-23-2008, 11:43 PM

Last weekend my family and I experienced a tragedy. My 6 month old and I were apart for two days, I was unable to feed or pump for the first day and by the time we were united my milk supply was gone. I tried everything I could think of to do, pump, teas, fenugreek pills, meditation and mantras while nursing, prayer, everything and it is gone. She however does not seem to be bothered by it. She has tried to nurse a couple of times since the milk dried up and after a few minutes she just pulls off and looks at me like, "Get me a bottle, this isn't working." She has been taking breastmilk bottles since she was six weeks and just learned how to say "baba" and actually gets excited about having her "baba". I have had a hard time accepting that our special moments of nursing are gone but I believe that everything happens for a reason.
So she has been on formula for two days now and seems to have no tummy issues or anything. I am just using the Similac Isomil soy stuff her Dr gave me and giving her 4 oz every three hours. She has been peeing like every 30 mins, is this normal? Anyway, I am going to switch to a better formula tomorrow and just realized that I think all fomulas are bad so I have no idea what to get. What do I do? Does anyone else use formula or have a suggested brand. Please respond asap if you have anything that would be useful, I feel lost.

i'm sorry to hear you had a family tragedy that caused premature weaing.

on the bright side, you say your little one doesnt seem bothered by it. that's really good news, i mean it's the best of an unfortunate situation.

you say you dont like formulas per say....have you ever considered a milk share program? cafe mom has a group online with lots of women who want to be breastmilk donors. if you are comfortable with that, then that is something to look into.

good luck.

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i've also heard of moms making their own organic formula. i don't have any references myself, but i'm sure you could google it. that's probably what i'd do. even the earth's best was labeled as having PBA in the cans.

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It hasnt been too long yet, and sometimes it is possible to relactate? With a combo of supplements, meds, pumping, nursing......even people who have never been pregnant have been able to nurse adopted children....your body is probably still wired to nurse and you might be able to get your supply back up if this is something you are considering!! LLL has a 24 hr line that could offer more info!

At her age I would just feed on demand, and as much as she eliminates is probably normal......remember with formula they use up less of it as it is less digestible so there might be more in her diapers than you are used to!!

I have read of moms making formula out of goats milk, that is closer to human milk than is cows milk. they added stuff like wheat protein, fish oils, etc.

Good luck!!

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Thank you for your advice. I am looking into organic formula and goats milk. I am also encouraging her more and more to begin solids. Today we tried apples and still she is not thrilled about solid anything in her mouth. She did however enjoy sucking on the apples so I tried some watered down apple juice (100% juice) and she took a little bit. As soon as my heart calms down from our situation I will spend more time researching. For now my mom bought soy based lipid, ARA, DHA formula. She is doing very well and since I added a tiny bit of organic oat cereal, the formula is not running straight through her. However that may not exactly be a good thing. She now wakes up to eat a couple times a night, but I can still sooth her back down long enough to heat a bottle and if I snuggle her close when we're done and keep her close to my chest she sleeps just as well as she did nursing. I am thankful for our closeness during the night, she soothes me.